Runner’s perceptions of reasons to quit running: Influence of gender, age and running-related characteristics

Daphne S. Menheere (Corresponding author), Mark A. Janssen, Mathias Funk, Erik D. van der Spek, Carine Lallemand, Steven B. Vos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)
186 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Physical inactivity has become a major public health concern and, consequently, the awareness of striving for a healthy lifestyle has increased. As a result, the popularity of recreational sports, such as running, has increased. Running is known for its low threshold to start and its attractiveness for a heterogeneous group of people. Yet, one can still observe high drop-out rates among (novice) runners. To understand the reasons for drop-out as perceived by runners, we investigate potential reasons to quit running among short distance runners (5km and 10km) (n = 898). Data used in this study were drawn from the standardized online Eindhoven Running Survey 2016 (ERS16). Binary logistic regressions were used to investigate the relation between reasons to quit running and different variables like socio-demographic variables, running habits and attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIOs) on running. Our results indicate that, not only people of different gender and age show significant differences in perceived reasons to quit running, also running habits, (e.g., running context and frequency) and AIOs are related to perceived reasons to quit running too. With insights into these related variables, potential drop-out reasons could help health professionals in understanding and lowering drop-out rates among recreational runners.
Original languageEnglish
Article number6046
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume17
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020

Keywords

  • Age
  • Attitudes
  • Gender
  • Interests
  • Motives
  • Novice runners
  • Running drop-out
  • Running habits
  • gender
  • running habits
  • attitudes
  • motives
  • running drop-out
  • interests
  • novice runners
  • age

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